Metropolitan Museum of Art NY which is subject to harsh criticism and scrutiny of the provenance of ancient objects as well as new artifacts in its collections, has announced a revision of the artifacts. who allegedly have a “problematic” history.

A key feature of the new plan is the museum’s decision to hire the most qualified research team. Moves come like the Metropolitan – one of the largest museums in the world, its archives hold over 1.5 million works up to 5,000 years old. – has come under pressure in recent years from growing calls for the repatriation of works by state governments, who claim the museum has no ownership rights.

Meanwhile, the New York judicial authorities have been conducting a massive “campaign” for the return of antiquities looted from approximately 20 countries and ended up in museums and galleries of the metropolis, including the Metropolitan.

Following a sculpture return ceremony held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg yesterday announced “the return to the Chinese people of two 7th-century stone sculptures, nearly $3.5 million.”.

According to Alvin Bragg, these works, “sawed” from the tombs in the early 1990s, subsequently came from China.

Then, “from 1998 until they were confiscated in 2023, these antiquities were loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Shelby White, a collector from Manhattan.”

“It’s a pity that these two amazing antiques were stolen and at least one of them remained hidden from the public for nearly three decades,” prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in a statement.